Phoebe Cates is arguably best recognized for her portrayal of Kate Beringer, who was instantly recognizable to most American teenagers of the time.
She disappeared from show business in the mid-1990s after appearing in some of the best-loved adolescent films of the previous decade.
Here’s why Phoebe Cates left Hollywood and what she’s been up to since her days as a movie star.
Phoebe Cates was born in New York City on July 16, 1963, and has appeared in 16 films over the course of 12 years, ranging from juvenile comedies like Fast Times at Ridgemont High to 1991’s Drop Dead Fred.
Yet, in the mid-1990s, this rising star abruptly stepped away from the spotlight, and the name Phoebe Cates vanished from film credits.
What happened to Phoebe Belle Cates? What has she been up to lately? And what exactly does she look like now?
Phoebe Cates’ father (Broadway producer Joseph Katz) and uncle were both prominent figures in the entertainment industry, producing TV specials as well as multiple Academy Awards ceremonies.
Her mother was born in Shanghai, and her maternal grandpa was of Chinese and Filipino descent. However, Cates’ grandmothers were both Russian-Jewish.
Andy Warhol, the famous artist who died in 1987, was a personal friend of the family.
Cates had his schooling at the Hewitt School, the Professional Children’s School, and the famed Julliard School.
Phoebe Cates started modeling when she was 10. She was in a number of magazines for teens before she became an actor. Cates, on the other hand, aspired to be a dancer at the time.
Phoebe Cates went on to join a ballet school but had to quit when she was 15 years old due to a significant knee injury.
It was at this time that Phoebe Cates became interested in modeling, a job she never loved since, in her words, “it was simply the same thing over and over again… I only did it for the money.”
Phoebe Cates made her acting debut in the 1982 film Paradise. After a screen test in her birthplace of New York, Cates was cast in this film, which was shot in Israel.
Cates was apparently embarrassed by the finished product, which is often seen as a rip-off of Blue Lagoon.
Yet, in the same year, she had a notable performance as Linda Barrett in Fast Times at Ridgemont High.
Cates stated in a 1982 interview that both of these early pictures had varying degrees of nudity, but one was significantly more unpleasant to film than the other.
“I was just 17 years old when I did my naked sequences in Paradise,” she explained. “They were more severe and tougher to justify because they were not easily justified. But the topless sequence in Fast Times at Ridgemont High was amusing, so it was simple.”
This coming-of-age classic is remarkable for featuring a young Nicolas Cage, Sean Penn, Eric Stoltz, and Jennifer Jason Leigh, among others.
Penn has subsequently stated that the young performers had no clue the film would become so successful and legendary, claiming, “None of us had any notion it would take on a life of its own.”
Fast Times is so important to American culture and history that it is in the US National Film Registry.
“I was just 17 when I did my naked sequences in Paradise,” she explained. “They were severe and more difficult to justify because they were not simply justified. But the topless sequence in Fast Times at Ridgemont High was hilarious, so it was simple.”
This coming-of-age classic is remarkable for featuring a young Nicolas Cage, Sean Penn, Eric Stoltz, and Jennifer Jason Leigh.
Penn later stated that the teenage performers were unaware of how big and legendary the picture would become, claiming, “None of us had any notion it would take on a life of its own.”
Fast Times has even been preserved in the US National Film Registry due to its cultural and historical significance.
In 1983, Phoebe Cates starred in the comedy Private School, and she sang on the soundtrack’s tunes Just One Touch and How Do I Let You Know.
Phoebe Cates also starred as Kate Beringer in the 1984 comedy-horror film Gremlins and its 1990 sequel, Gremlins 2: The New Batch.
Cates starred as Patty Winston in Date with an Angel, a fantasy rom-com that was critically derided.
Although born into a family of Broadway producers in New York, Cates did not begin appearing in plays until the mid-1980s. In this decade, she appeared in off-Broadway productions of The Nest of the Wood Grouse and Rich Relations, and her Broadway debut was 1989’s The Tenth Man.
Despite the success of her roles in Fast Times and Paradise, Phoebe Cates has stated that she prefers to play on stage rather than on television. She has also pointed out that women’s roles in theater are more varied and intriguing than those in movies.
“I think of theater as my favorite thing to do,” Cates said in 1988. “As an actor, I’ve only felt content for approximately two years. I rarely see my own films.”
However, Cates continued to work in films in the late 1980s, appearing in Big City, Heart of Dixie, and the comedy Shag with Bridget Fonda. Regrettably, none of these films did well at the box office and garnered mixed reviews from critics.
Phoebe Cates acted in the historical comedy film Princess Caraboo in 1994. It is based on the real-life lady Mary Baker, who constructed the character Princess Caraboo and convinced a British village in the 1800s that she was a royal foreigner.
Cates co-starred in the film with her husband, Kevin Kline, who plays Frixos, a butler who is skeptical of Caraboo’s pranks.
Drop Dead Fred was released in 1991. Phoebe Cates plays a lonely teenager with a bizarre imaginary buddy in the female main role. Despite the film being panned by critics at its first release, it has subsequently gained a sizable fan base, earning Phoebe Cates the distinction of becoming a cult classic star.
Cates, on the other hand, abruptly stepped away from the spotlight following the release of this film. What caused Phoebe Cates’ abrupt career shift? No more so than her preference for family over celebrity.
Kevin Kline and Pheobe Cates are currently married. When auditioning for Meg Tilly’s role in the 1983 film The Big Chill, Phoebe Cates met her now-husband of 32 years, actor Kevin Kline.
Kline is most remembered for her role in A Fish Named Wanda, which won her an Oscar.
In 1989, Phoebe Cates married Kline and changed her name to Phoebe Cates Kline. Owen Joseph Kline, born in 1991, and Greta Simone Kline, born in 1994, are the couple’s two children.
Phoebe Cates moved away from the bright lights of Hollywood because she wanted to focus on raising her family, although she did explore a change of job a decade later.
Phoebe Cates started a business on Madison Avenue in New York City in 2005, not far from her family’s house. Blue Tree sells everything from clothing to jewelry to perfume to books to plush animals!
Phoebe Cates, now 58, periodically returns to her acting profession, but she hasn’t acted in a major film since 2001’s The Anniversary Party.
Phoebe Cates appeared in the film with her husband and children as a favor to the film’s director, Jennifer Jason Leigh, with whom she became friends after appearing together in Fast Times at Ridgemont High.
Jennifer Jason Leigh has had a more traditional Hollywood career, most notably appearing in the horror thriller Annihilation in 2018.
Cates also voiced her old Gremlins character in the 2015 video game Lego Dimensions.
It’s nice to hear the story of Phoebe Cates, who is flourishing in her middle age, at a time when you hear so many tales of youngsters in show business who went on to have big, bad troubles in their adult lives.
We are certain that you will join us in wishing Phoebe Cates and her family the best in the future!